Research Methods, Research Designs, Sampling Methods

What are three examples of RESEARCH DESIGNS?

Repeated Measures, Independent Samples, Matched Pairs

What are three examples of RESEARCH METHODS?

True experiments, Quasi-experiments, Natural experiments

What are six examples of SAMPLING METHODS?

Opportunity sampling, self-selected/volunteer sampling, snowball sampling, random sampling, stratified sampling, purposive sampling

What does CARDUD stand for when discussing the ethics of pysch studies?

Consent, Anonymity, Right to Withdraw, Deception, Undue Stress, Debriefing

What does TEACUP stand for when discussing the validity of a psych theory?

Testable, Evidence, Application, Concepts, Unbiased, Predictive

How do you characterize/discuss research?

1. Was it done in the Lab or in the Field?

2. Was it Retrospective or Introspective?

3. Was it Longitudinal or Cross-Sectional?

Retrospective vs. Prospective

Data using past behavior vs. Watching a variable change over time to predict results

Longitudinal vs. Cross-sectional

Repeated observations of a variable over long periods of time vs. Data collected at a certain point in time

What is Internal Validity?

A measure of how well the procedures of a study were performed

What is External validity?

A measure of how much a study’s results apply in the real world

What is Population Validity?

A type of external validity that measures how a study generalizes a population as a whole

What is Ecological Validity?

A type of external validity that measures how the experimental environment could have influenced participant behavior

What is Mundane Realism?

A measure of how well a study represents real life - can the study be replicated outside of a lab setting?

What is a True Experiment?

An experiment where an independent variable is manipulated and a dependent variable is measured in a controlled setting. Participants are randomly assigned to conditions.

What is a Quasi-Experiment?

An experiment similar to a true experiment, but participants are assigned to conditions based on their traits

What is a Natural Experiment?

An experiment that studies a naturally occurring event, where no independent variable is manually manipulated by the researcher

What is Opportunity Sampling?

The process of choosing participants from naturally occurring groups

What is an advantage and disadvantage of Opportunity Sampling?

It’s easier to get participants, but it is biased because the researcher chooses participants and not representative of a whole population

What is Self-Selected/Volunteer Sampling?

When participants volunteer themselves for a study, usually found through advertisements

What is an advantage and disadvantage of Self-Selected/Volunteer Sampling?

It’s easier to get motivated participants, but is not representative of a whole population

What is Snowball Sampling?

When participants recruit other participants for a study

What is an advantage and disadvantage of Snowball Sampling?

It makes it easier to find hard-to-access participants and helps them build trust in the researcher, but is not representative of a whole population

What is Random Sampling?

When every member of a target populatoin has an equal chance of being selected for a study

What is an advantage and disadvantage of Random Sampling?

It is more representative of a general population if a large sample size is used, but there is a chance that the selection of participants will not be representative because it could be randomly skewed

What is Stratified Sampling?

When a target population is split into subpopulations, then participants are randomly selected from each subpopulation

What is an advantage and disadvantage of Stratified Sampling?

It is more representative because it is closer to the actual population distribution, but it takes more time and effort to gather participants and classify them into subgroups

What is Purposive Sampling?

The process of finding participants by actively searching for people who meet certain criteria

What is an advantage and disadvantage of Purposive Sampling?

It is good for measuring a specific phenomenon, but it is biased because the researcher selects participants

What is a Repeated Measures Design?

An experiment design that has one sample of participants who receive every condition being tested

What are Demand Characteristics?

Clues that may cause participants to form an interpretation of the experiment’s purpose

What is the Expectancy Effect?

When participants, after being exposed to a demand characteristic, start doing what they think the researcher wants them to do

What is the Screw You Effect?

When participants, after being exposed to a demand characteristic, start doing the opposite of what they think the researcher wants them to do

What are Order effects?

When the order of conditions that participants undergo create boredom/fatigue/familiarity, influencing their behavior

What is Counter-Balancing?

Giving study groups the same conditions but in different orders in order to avoid boredom/fatigue/familiarity

What are advantages of using a Repeated Measures Design?

It controls participant variability and less participants are required

What are disadvantages of using a Repeated Measures Design?

Order effects may be present (if not using counter balancing) and participants may form an interpretation of the study’s purpose after seeing demand characteristics

What is an Independent Sample Design?

An experiment design that allocates groups of participants to only one condition

What are advantages of an Independent Sample Design?

It can control order effects and demand characteristics

What is a disadvantage of an Independent Sample Design?

Participant variability affects results unless enough participants are used

What is a Matched Pairs design?

A type of independent sample design that groups participants by their traits, then splits them up evenly among each condition to reduce participant variability